Wednesday: December 5, 2012

READ: Proverbs 29

THINK: God is the powerful Advocate of the needy. The biblical categories of the needy (the widow, the fatherless, and the alien or stranger) are “voiceless.” Because their voices are not valued or heard, God commissions his people to become modern-day public defenders, so to speak, defending the causes of the need, maintaining their rights and pleading their cases (see Deuteronomy 27:19, Psalm 82:3, Proverbs 23:10-11, Isaiah 1:17).

2. Read them one more time, asking God to show you what you need to know about your relationship to the have-nots in your society and neighborhood.

PRAY: Ask God to help you find ways to understand what it’s like to be poor, to treat fairly those who are overlooked, and to participate in well-chosen goodness regarding the needy.

LIVE: Start seeing the have-nots in your world. You might find them riding buses, standing outside convenience stores, or riding their bikes. These people are present, but we usually overlook them. Really look at each person, especially his or her face. Acknowledge the person. Nod. Smile. Breathe in the deep good-heartedness of God, who asks you to understand what it’s like to be poor and to show his love to those who are poor in your world, and be sensitive to the leading of his Holy Spirit.